The financial news that actually matters
Covers retirement planning, Social Security benefits, pension systems, and long-term financial security. It helps readers understand how to prepare financially for retirement.
Roughly 600,000 people enrolled in Humana Medicare Advantage plans are set to lose that coverage in 2027, after the insurer said it will pull out of its least profitable markets. The move is a business decision aimed at repairing thin margins, but the fallout lands on members who will have to shop for a new…
Social Security holds an unusual power over the checks it sends: if the agency concludes it overpaid a beneficiary, even through its own error, it can hold back up to half of each monthly retirement payment until the balance is repaid. Overpayments are common, often built up quietly over months before a notice ever arrives,…
Pension advance offers arrive by mail, by phone, and online with a simple pitch: hand over some or all of a monthly pension check and collect a lump sum of cash today. For retirees living on fixed incomes, that fast money can look like a lifeline when a roof needs replacing or a medical bill…
A variable annuity is built to be held for a long time, and the contract enforces that design with a penalty for leaving early. That penalty, known as a surrender charge, can reach into the thousands of dollars and can apply for the better part of a decade after the annuity is bought. For a…
Moving a 401(k) or IRA into gold is perfectly legal, and for some savers a modest allocation to precious metals is a defensible choice. The danger is rarely the metal itself. It is the way many gold-IRA deals are priced: layers of commissions, coin markups, and recurring account fees that can strip tens of thousands…
The federal government’s pension insurer has stepped in to keep monthly checks flowing to 1,630 people tied to the collapse of one of the auto-parts industry’s best-known names. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has assumed responsibility for three pension plans sponsored by affiliates of First Brands Group, the bankrupt maker of Fram oil filters…
A job left years ago can leave behind more than an old résumé line. A pension or 401(k) may still be tied to the former employer, and changes in company names, administrators, addresses, or ownership can make the plan difficult to locate. The Labor Department now operates a federal search tool designed to reconnect workers…
The age at which a widow or widower starts Social Security survivor benefits can permanently affect the monthly amount. The range is wide enough that a rushed claim after a death may shape household income for years. Survivor benefits also interact with a person’s own retirement or disability benefit, work income, family eligibility, and a…
A company’s bankruptcy does not ordinarily put workers’ 401(k) accounts into the pool available to the employer’s creditors; federal law requires covered retirement-plan assets to be kept separate from business assets and held in trust or an insurance contract. The account can still face market losses, access delays, or missing-contribution problems, but ordinary company creditors…
The federal pension insurer’s 2026 table lists $7,789.77 a month as the maximum straight-life guarantee at age 65. That number applies in the single-employer program when the relevant plan failure year is 2026. It is a ceiling rather than a promise that every participant receives that amount. Age, payment form, plan terms, and guarantee rules…